MUMBAI: Global furniture major IKEA Group has entered into a strategic alliance with realty developer Rustomjee Group to provide furnished apartments in the latter’s residential project. This is for the first time that the Swedish multinational has formed any such alliance anywhere in the world.

To begin with, IKEA India will provide ready-to-assemble furniture for around 1,200 apartments in Rustomjee’s project Global City Virar near Mumbai. The project will offer 1 and 2 bedroom apartments at prices starting from Rs 34 lakh excluding taxes.

“This is a pilot project and we would like to extend this association with IKEA across our similar residential projects. We’ll start delivering the project in two years by December 2020,” said Boman R. Irani, Chairman, Rustomjee Group. “Our alliance will deliver Rs 700 crore affordable furnished homes.”

Rustomjee has already delivered nearly 5,000 apartments in the first phase of township Global City and is now launching 1,750 units in the next phase. IKEA furnished homes will be part of these newly launched phase.

The IKEA Group is the first major single brand retailer to get Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) approval and plans to open several stores and multiple touch points across the main cities in India. The first IKEA India store opened in Hyderabad in 2018, which will be followed by store in Navi Mumbai this year. IKEA has four land sites in Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi-NCR and continues to look for more in other major cities.